Guide roller in roller guides

ABSTRACT

An improved guide roller assembly is utilized to guide highspeed rolled stock. The guide roller assembly includes a rim formed of cemented carbide and having a concave annular outer surface which engages the rolled stock and a circular inner surface. The inner surface of the rim includes a pair of axially opposite end portions having a truncated conical configuration. Two truncated conical bearing members are disposed in engagement with the axially opposite end portions of the inner surface of the rim. Due to the truncated conical configuration of these bearing sections, a relatively uniform load is transmitted between the outer surface of the guide roller and the bearing sections in such a manner as to retard cracking of the cemented carbide rim. guide.

United States Patent 11 1 Bock [ lSept 24,1974

[54] GUIDE ROLLER IN ROLLER GUIDES 3.505.716 4/1970 Moser 29/116 R [75]Inventor: $23 Bock Smedjebacken Primary ExaminerM. Henson Wood, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Gene A. Church [73] Assignee: MorgardshammarAktiebolag,

Smedjebacken, Sweden 57 ABSTRACT [22] Filed: June 6, 1973 An improvedguide roller assembly is utilized to guide high-speed rolled stock. Theguide roller assembly in- [211 Appl' 367524 cludes a rim formed ofcemented carbide and having a concave annular outer surface whichengages the [30] Foreign Application Priority Data rolled stock and acircular inner surface. The inner June 7. 1972' sweaeri..';;;ij;t....;'.'..;....7274'6'2 Surface of the rim includes a P Of axially pp endportions having a truncated conical configuration. 52 U.S. c1. 226/194,29/116 R TWO truncated Conical bearing members are disposed 51] Im. c1B65h 17/20 in engagement with the axially pp end portions 5 Field fSearch 22 9 188 190, of the inner surface of the rim. Due to thetruncated 226/194; 29/110, 115, 116, 132, 116 A conical configuration ofthese bearing sections, a relatively uniform load is transmitted betweenthe outer 5 References Cited surface of the guide roller and the bearingsections in UNITED STATES PATENTS such a manner as to retard cracking ofthe cemented 1,849,337 3/1932 Spracher et al 226/194 carblde gmde'3,031,119 4/1962 Allen et al. 226/118 x 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Z) tZ 4/0, F //d 3w 1 I 5 l \9 I 1 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to a guide roller for roller guides intended to guidehigh-speed rolled stock and comprising a runner wheel, the insidesurface of which has conicity from two directions.

In some modern bar and wire rod mills a roller guide having two guiderollers is utilized to guide the movement of the rolled stock. Therolled stock may have a finishing speed of about 25 to 30 m/sec. It is,therefore, very important that the rolled stock enters a groove in afinishing apparatus at a direction which is absolutely correct bothvertically and laterally. If the direction of high-speed movement of therolled stock is incorrect, there is a risk that the rolled stock will beturned into scrap. For this reason, guides for the rolled stock areusually mounted in front of the groove. These guides may be rollerguides. The roller guides include precision made guide rollers withsurfaces for positioning the rolled stock as it enters the finishingapparatus at very high speeds.

The guide rollers are subjected to high stresses and heavy wear. Inorder to reduce the wear, the rim or runner wheel of a guide roller ismade of cemented carbide. As cemented carbide is an expensive material,economic reasons make it desirable that the rim or runner wheel bedesigned so that it requires as little material as possible and at thesame time is sufficiently strong to withstand the stresses which resultfrom guiding the rolled stock.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one feature of theinvention, the guide roller is provided with two rotary bearing membersof a truncated conical configuration. The top or minor end surfaces ofthe bearing members face each other. The inner surface of the rim orrunner wheel is fixedly connected to the bearing members. This innersurface of the runner wheel has the same configuration as the outersurface of the guide members. Due to the conical shape of the oppositeend portions of the inner surface of the rim, the load is so balancedthat the bearing pressure is distributed more favorably, therebyreducing the risk of crack formation in the cemented carbide rim.

In addition to the advantage of a decrease in the amount of materialrequired, a further advantage is gained in that the rim or runner wheelis less expensive, because the cost of manufacture of precision conicalsurfaces is lower than for a cylindrical inner surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other features ofthe present invention will become more apparent upon a review of thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the guide roller assembly constructed inaccordance with the present invention, the guide roller assembly beingillustrated in FIG. 1 in a roller guide for guiding movement of rolledstock;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration depicting the loading of the rim orrunner wheel of the guide roller assembly of FIG. 1 under the influenceof the rolled stock; and

FIG. 2a is a cross-sectional view of the guide roller of FIG. 1, takenalong line AA in FIG. 1, and illustrating a plurality of reactionsurfaces on a turbine ring.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration depicting the loading of the rim orrunner wheel of a known guide roller assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF ONE PREFFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION A guide rollerassembly 1 constructed in accordance with the present invention isillustrated in FIG. 1 in association with a roller guide arrangement.The guide roller assembly 1 is rotatably supported on a fixed axle 2 bya pair of unitary truncated conical bearing parts 3. The axle 2 isfixedly connected with a roller holder 4. A drive or turbine ring 5 isfixedly clamped between minor end surfaces 3a of the bearing parts 3 andis rotatable with the bearing parts relative to the fixed axle 2. Thering 5 is provided with reaction surfaces 14 (see FIG. 2a) which areformed in the manner disclosed in US. application Ser. No. 367,525 filedJune 6, 1973 by Nils Erik Bock and entitled Guide Roller in RollerGuides (File No. MH-5786, by corresponding to Swedish application Ser.No. 7463/72).

The roller assembly 1 is provided with a supply of a fluid drivingmedium and lubricant, such as air or liquid under pressure, through apassage way 6 in the roller holder 4 and passage ways 7 and 8 in thefixed axle. The air or liquid under pressure flows from the passage way6 through the passage ways 7 and 8 to engage reaction surfaces on thedrive ring 5. As the fluid under pressure exits from the passage way 8,it impinges against the reaction surfaces to rotate the ring 5 andbearing parts 3 relative to the fixed axle in much the same manner as inwhich a turbine wheel is driven. The turbine ring 5 is similar to thatdisclosed in the aforesaid application Ser. No. 367,525, and isshown inFIG. 2a. Reaction surfaces 14 are arranged so that fluid flowing throughpassage 7 and then through transversely extending passage 8 is directedagainst them.

The fluid under pressure exits through passages9 formed in the truncatedconical bearing parts 3. Each of the reaction surfaces 14 on the drivering 5 is connected in fluid communication with one of a plurality ofpassages 9 formed in the truncated bearing parts 3 so that the fluidimpinging against the reaction surfaces 14 can be exhausted from theguide roller assembly 1.

A pair of annular bearing discs 10 are slidably engaged by major endsurfaces 3b of the bearing parts 3 to support the bearing parts forrotation with the drive ring 5. Thus, the bearing parts 3 and drive ring5 are rotated relative to the roller holder 4 and fixed axle 2 under theinfluence of fluid supplied under pressure through the passage 6.

In accordance with the present invention, a cemented carbide rim orrunner wheel 11 of the roller guide assembly 1 is constructed so that ithas an axially extending inner surface 11a with truncated conical outerend portions 11b and 11c which are interconnected by a cylindericalcenter or mid portion 11d. The truncated conical outer portions 11b andhave the same configuration as the truncated conical outer surfaces ofthe bearing parts 3. Thus, the truncated conical surface portions 11band 11c form portions of a right circular cone and have the same coneangle as the bearing parts 3. The truncated conical surface portions 11band 11c have their minor ends adjacent to the circular inner surface 11dand their major ends adjacent to the outer sides of the rim 11. Thecylinderical center surface portion lld has the same diameter as thedrive ring 5. The rim 11 is fixedly connected with the bearing parts 3and the drive ring 5 so that it is rotated with the drive ring andbearing parts about the fixed axle 2.

When rolled stock is to be moved through the roller guide of FIG. 1, therim 11 is accelerated to a surface speed which approximates the speed ofthe roller stock. This is accomplished by directing fluid under pressureinto the passage 6. As was previously explained, the fluid causes thedrive ring 5 to rotate. As the drive ring 5 rotates, the bearing parts 3and wheel rim 11 are also rotated relative to the stationary axle 2.Once the rim 11 has been accelerated, the rolled stock moves into I theengagement with the rim. As this occurs, a concave annular outer surfacelle is uniformly loaded under the influence of forces applied againstthe rim 11 by the rolled stock in the manner illustrated schematicallyin FIG. 2. Since the rim 11 is formed of cemented carbide, the rim isrelatively hard and will not be unduly worn by the rolled stock.

The load applied against the annular outer surface lle of the rim 11 maybe approximated as a uniform load radiating from the center curvature ofthe arcuate outer surface lle and the center of the rolled stock. Thisuniform load is depicted schematically by arrows 11f in FIG. 2.

The inwardly directed load on the outer surface lle is opposed by thebearing parts 3. The reaction load applied to the rim 11 by the bearingparts 3 is an approximately uniform load which is applied over thetruncated conical inner surface portions 11b and 110 in the mannerdepicted by the arrows 11g in FIG. 2. Due to the fact that the innersurfaces 11b and 110 of the rim 11 are disposed at an acute anglerelative to the central axis of the rim, the line of action of thearrows 11g are approximately parallel to the line of action of thearrows 11f. This results in an offsetting of the load applied by therolled stock to the rim 11 without the formation of substantial axialcomponents which could tend to crack the cemented carbide rim.

A prior art rim or runner wheel 12 is illustrated in FIG. 3. The priorart rim 12 has a cylinderical inner surface 12a and a concave annularouter surface 1217. Since the inner surface 12a extends parallel to theaxis of the rim 12, the reaction load forces applied against the innersurface 12a by a cylinderical bearing part (not shown) are directedradially outwardly in the manner approximated by the arrows 120 in FIG.3. It should be noted that the components of the reaction load 120 donot extend parallel to the components of the load 12d applied by therolled stock. This results in the formation of axially directed forcecomponents which must be withstood by the cemented carbide rim 12.

Therefore, there is a tendency for cracks 13 to form in the cementedcarbide rim 12 so that it will have a relative short service lifecompared to the cemented carbide rim 11.

In addition, it should be noted that if the cemented carbide rim 12 hasthe same external diameter as the cemented carbide rim 11, asubstantially larger volume of cemented carbide will be required to formthe rim 12. This is because the rim 12 has a cylinderical inner surface12a which cooperates with a cylinderical bearing part. On the otherhand, the rim 11 has truncated conical surfaces 11b and 11c which reducethe cross sectional area of the rim and the volume of cemented carbideutilized to form the rim. Since cemented carbide is relativelyexpensive, the rim 11 can be formed at a lower cost than the rim 12.

In view of the foregoing description, it can be seen that the guidewheel rim 11 has an axial inner surface having truncated conical outerend portions 11b and 110. The truncated conical surfaces 11b and 11cresult in the components of the reaction load, depicted by the arrows11g in FIG. 2, being generally parallel to the major portion of theloading applied by the roller stock against the arcuate outer surfacelle of the rim 11. This tends to minimize axial or sidewise stresses inthe wheel rim 11 so that it does not tend to crack during service.

Having described a specific preferred embodiment of the invention, thefollowing is claimed:

1. A guide roller assembly comprising an axle, rim means having anarcuate annular outer surface for engaging a load and an axiallyextending inner surface, and bearing means for supporting said rim meansfor rotation relative to said axle, said bearing means including a pairof bearing members having truncated conical outer surfaces, said innersurface of said rim means including a pair of truncated conical surfaceportions disposed in abutting engagement with said truncated conicalouter surfaces of said bearing members to promote uniform loading ofsaid rim means.

2. A guide roller assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said rimmeans includes an annular member formed of cemented carbide.

3. A guide roller assembly as set forth in claim 1 further including adrive ring connected with said rim means, said drive ring including aplurality of reaction surfaces, means for directing a flow of fluidunder pressure against said reaction surfaces to effect rotation of saidrim means. I

4. A roller assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bearingmembers are oriented with their minor end surfaces facing each other,said truncated conical surface portions of said rim means taperinginwardly from relatively large diameter openings in side surfaces ofsaid rim means to a relatively small inner diameter.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION {Patent Ne.3,831,553 Dated September 24, 1974 Inventor(s) 5 Erlk4Bock' It iseertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Iforeigna'pplication priority data, change "June 7, 1972 Sweden727462" to read '-June 7, 197,2

OII QIIVO IOCU.IO v i Signed andgsealed th is- 19th day of November1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

IicCOY GIBSON" JR. v c. mRg .DANN

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM PO-1050 (10-69) USCOMM-DC608764 69 1 f U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE i959 0-366-334.

1. A guide roller assembly comprising an axle, rim means having anarcuate annular outer surface for engaging a load and an axiallyextending inner surface, and bearing means for supporting said rim meansfor rotation relative to said axle, said bearing means including a pairof bearing members having truncated conical outer surfaces, said innersurface of said rim means including a pair of truncated conical surfaceportions disposed in abutting engagement with said truncated conicalouter surfaces of said bearing members to promote uniform loading ofsaid rim means.
 2. A guide roller assembly as set forth in claim 1wherein said rim means includes an annular member formed of cementedcarbide.
 3. A guide roller assembly as set forth in claim 1 furtherincluding a drive ring connected with said rim means, said drive ringincluding a plurality of reaction surfaces, means for directing a flowof fluid under pressure against said reaction surfaces to effectrotation of said rim means.
 4. A roller assembly as set forth in claim 1wherein said bearing members are oriented with their minor end surfacesfacing each other, said truncated conical surface portions of said rimmeans tapering inwardly from relatively large diameter openings in sidesurfaces of said rim means to a relatively small inner diameter.